Bad Timing
by dhawthorne
Summary: Mickey Scott's execution was supposed to be the only nightmare that day, not this. Colleagues and friends, past and present, gather at the hospital to wait for news about Claire. Post-ep for Aftershock.


'Profaci, do you _know_ what time it is?' she snaps when her husband hands her the phone. 'This better be important.'

'L.T.-it's Lennie. he was in an accident.'

'God,' she sits down abruptly. 'Where is he now? Is he okay?'

'He's… he's at New York University Hospital.'

'I'll be right there.'

'L.T.-' his voice calls her back.

'Yes, Profaci?'

He swallows audibly. 'Um, Lennie wasn't alone. Claire Kincaid was driving.'

'Oh, my God,' she breathes, thoughts racing. They were just together… she went to pick up Jack, didn't she? She couldn't be with Lennie… 'Is she-'

'I don't know,' he admits bleakly. 'She's in surgery now.'

She shakes her head to dispel the morbid images suddenly crowding her mind; crime scene images with the faces of her colleagues-her _friends_ -superimposed.

'I'll be there as soon as I can,' she tells him, then takes a deep breath. 'Profaci, have you called anyone else?'

'No. I don't know who else to call.'

'I need you to call Mike Logan,' she replies, forgetting for a moment that Mike's no longer Lennie's partner. 'Where are you now, Profaci?'

'At the precinct. Lennie called lookin' for you, that's how I know.'

'Okay. Do you know-you know what, never mind. I'll make the rest of the calls. Thanks, Profaci.'

'Yeah. I'll call Mike. Will you give me a call when you know what's goin' on, L.T.?'

'Yeah,' she agrees. 'Thanks, Profaci.'

'You have to go back in?' Don asks when she hangs up the phone. 'And I didn't think Logan was back from Staten Island.'

She turns to him. 'Lennie was in a car accident. I have to get to the hospital.'

'My God. Is he okay?'

'Yeah, I think so, but Claire Kincaid-you know, the A.D.A. I've mentioned-she was badly injured. I have to get down there. I don't know how long I'm gonna be.'

He reaches out and squeezes her shoulder. 'Let me know when you know. I'll tell the boys, take them to school in the morning if you're not back.'

'Thanks. I'll give you a call when I know more.'

All the way to the hospital-thankfully not a long drive at this hour-she runs over their last conversation in her head. She wanted to leave the law, get some peace from the execution- _what I saw today will stay with me for the rest of my life_ , she'd said, and God! This can't be the end of it, the end of her life…

She needs to call Liz Olivet. She'll be able to help. She can talk to Lennie, talk to Jack-

She hits her hand against the steering wheel. Jack… even though Claire didn't say his name everyone at the precinct and at the D.A.'s office knew they were sleeping together. She knew he was the one paging her all night. Does he know?

She parks her car in the parking garage and weaves her way through the maze of corridors before she finally finds Lennie-and Mike. The younger cop looks up as she walks down the corridor and she is so relieved to see him that at first glance she misses the new, deep lines at the side of his mouth, the tense way he walks. He's changed in his year of exile… He walks up to her, meeting her. Before she can say anything, he folds her into a quick embrace. 'Good to see you, L.T.'

'You too, Mike.' She looks up at him. 'What happened? Has he told you anything?'

'Not much. I got here a few minutes ago. He fell off the wagon,' he states bluntly. 'The execution got to him I guess.'

'It got to a lot of people,' she admits. 'It was a tough day. Claire, too-we talked earlier before she went to pick up Jack. She wanted to quit her job.'

'Claire's still in surgery,' he says quietly, and she nods.

'Do they think she's going to make it?'

He shrugs. 'They don't know. It doesn't look good. They got rammed by another drunk driver.'

She shifts her attention to Lennie, slumped in a chair, head in his hands. She walks over to him and lays a hand on his shoulder, then looks up at Mike abruptly as she gets a whiff of cigarette smoke and booze. He lifts his shoulders in a slight shrug and nods.

'Lennie-are you hurt?' she asks. He looks up at her and he looks old for the first time since she's seen him, as though he's aged twenty years in a night.

'Someone needs to call Jack,' Lennie says. 'She came to pick him up and he'd left. I couldn't-'

'Of course. I'll make some calls,' she says, squeezing his shoulder, and Mike follows her down the hall to a pay phone.

He squeezes her shoulder just as she'd squeezed Lennie's, a comforting touch. 'Can I make some calls?'

'I'm going to call Liz.'

He stiffens suddenly, removing his hand from her shoulder. 'Liz Olivet? Why?'

She looks at him, the way he's withdrawn suddenly, stuffed his hands in his pockets and hunched his shoulders. What on earth…?

'I think she'll be helpful. She's a… calming presence, and we'll need that with Jack and Lennie, don't you think?'

'I guess,' he shrugs. 'I'll go back to Lennie, okay?'

'Okay.' She watches as he walks back to his former partner and then she turns to the phone, dialling Liz's number.

'Hello?'

''Liz, it's Anita Van Buren.'

'Anita, what is it?' she says sleepily.

'Lennie Briscoe and Claire Kincaid were in a car accident.'

'What?' she asks, horrified. 'Are they all right?'

'Lennie was… Lennie was drunk,' she says, 'and Claire was driving him when they were hit by a drunk driver. She's in surgery now. They don't know if she's going to make it.'

'Oh, God. Can I do anything, Anita? What hospital are they at?'

'If you could come down it would be great,' she sighs in relief. 'We're at New York University Hospital-the surgical ward.'

'I'll be there as soon as I can,' she assures her. 'Can I do anything on the way?'

'I need to call Jack.'

The silence on the end of the other line speaks volumes.

'I'll get there as soon as I can. Can you give me a twenty-minute head start?'

'Yeah,' she agrees. 'But hurry, please, Liz.'

'I'm on my way,' Liz promises, and hangs up the phone.

She hangs up the phone and turns to look at Lennie and Mike. Mike has a hand resting on Lennie's back as he cradles his head in his hand. She walks back over to them.

'Did you call Jack?' Lennie asks, looking up as she sits down next to him.

'I called Liz Olivet. She'll be here as soon as she can.'

Lennie nods, then stands up jerkily. 'I'm gonna go get some coffee. I need to do something.'

She nods. 'I'll call Jack, Lennie. Liz asked me to give her a head start.'

'Yeah, thanks, Lieu. Can I get either of you some coffee? I think it's gonna be a long night.'

'Me, please,' she says.

'I'll come with you,' Mike offers. 'Help you carry it back.'

Lennie nods and the two of them walk off together.

She runs a tired hand over her eyes as she stands at the payphone again, trying to work up the courage to dial Jack's number. Mike and Lennie aren't back yet, and it's their absence that urges her to get it together now and call him before they return.

The phone rings out twice before he finally picks up the phone.

'McCoy,' he barks gruffly, though whatever he's been drinking tonight blurs his words.

'Counselor, it's Anita Van Buren,' she begins, and he cuts her off.

'Can whatever this is wait until the morning, Lieutenant?' he snaps. 'In case you haven't noticed it's the middle of the night.'

'No, it can't. Lennie Briscoe and Claire Kincaid were in a car accident.'

'What?' he says after a long moment.

'She's in surgery right now,' she presses on. 'We're at New York University Hospital.'

'Oh my God,' he chokes. 'Jesus, Anita-are you sure?'

'Am I sure? Yes, I'm sure, Jack-she picked Lennie up at the bar and you'd already left. They got rammed by a drunk driver.'

'Fuck!' She hears something slam down on the other end of the line.

'Jack?'

'I'll be there as soon as I can. Has anyone-has anyone called her parents?'

'I'm not sure,' she admits.

'I'll call them now. Or-'

'I called Liz Olivet,' she tells him, 'I'll have her call when she gets here, if you want?'

He sighs. 'Yeah. Where at the hospital?'

'Surgery. And Jack-take a cab.'

He slams down the phone and she hangs up the receiver, resting her head against the payphone. This day is a nightmare, she thinks. When is it going to be over?

By the time she returns to their group of chairs Lennie and Mike are there, Lennie looking significantly more put together than he did earlier.

'I called Jack. He's on his way. Um-' she doesn't know how to say it. 'He asked if anyone called Claire's parents yet.'

They shake their heads. 'Okay. I'm going to do that now, or Liz can when she gets here.'

'I can do what?' Liz says, approaching them, and she nearly sags in relief. 'I came as soon as I could-Lennie, are you all right?' she asks, kneeling on the floor next to him, resting her hands on his knees.

'I've been better,' he quips weakly, and Liz smiles at him.

'I'm glad you're okay,' Liz says gently, then turns to look up at her. 'How's Claire?'

'We don't know yet,' she replies. 'I called Jack; he's on his way.'

She nods, then looks back at Lennie. 'Do you… want to talk?'

'I don't think I could bear it right now, Doc,' he tells her. 'Hey, do you want some coffee?' he offers, changing the subject. 'The cafeteria here makes a pretty decent cup of sludge.'

She chuckles, and she knows she's trying to infuse a sense of normalcy into this nighmarish day. She silently blesses her for it. 'As long as it's better than the precinct, then yes.' She stands up. 'Want to come with me?'

He looks up at her, then back to Liz. She needs to talk to him alone, so she glances at Mike, hoping he'll get the hint.

'I'll go with you,' Mike says abruptly, jaw clenched, and for the first time since Liz walked in the door she looks up at him. Something passes between them, and Liz begins to protest.

'Actually, I'd like to talk to Lennie for a little bit,' she says, jumping in. They both stop talking suddenly and Liz swallows.

'Fine. Let's go then,' she says, walking down the hallway before he can even stand up. She watches as he hurries to catch up with her, resting a hand on her back for only an instant before she shies away violently, turning to look at him as they turn the corner and disappear from view.

'How are you doing, Lennie? Really?' she asks, dragging her attention back to him.

'First time in six years I took a drink,' he admits. 'Guess that execution screwed us up more than I thought.'

She nods. 'Seeing that happen-it goes against everything. We're supposed to protect people from getting hurt, not help them die.'

'Yeah. And then Cathy came to see me, and we fought… she hates me.'

'Your daughter?' she asks, and he nods.

'Shouldn't be surprised. I was never really around, and it was just easier… to give in, after everything that happened. I ran into Jack at that bar… he was three sheets to the wind, and… and then he left. He'd been paging Claire all night and he left. He said "to hell with her," when he walked out the door.' He sighs and rubs an exhausted hand over his eyes. 'I was playing pool when she walked in, offered to buy her a drink… she told me to get my coat and she'd take me home. We talked about the execution… I told her it wouldn't be so terrible if she was my kid… and then this car came out of nowhere.' He sighs. 'This day… this entire day is a nightmare I can't seem to wake up from.'

'I know how you feel,' she replies, and he nods, and they sit in silence.

'Thanks for not calling Rey,' he says. 'Don't think I could deal with his sanctimonious smugness right now.'

She laughs for the first time all day. 'Yeah, he's a bit much to take even at the best of times.'

He nods. 'Never thought I'd say it when we first started partnering together, but I miss Mike.'

'Me too. I put in a request to transfer him back; it got rejected last week.'

He sighs.

'Why'd he do it?' she asks for the first time. She'd asked Mike after, but he didn't respond, simply shrugged and looked away, anger in his eyes.

Lennie shrugs, staring straight ahead. 'Well, I always figured that Liz had finally kicked him to the curb.'

She gapes at him. 'What?'

He looks over at her. 'He never said anything. They weren't open about it. But I saw them one night together on the street, late, and… and they were holding hands.'

'Hand-holding is hardly the sign of a torrid affair,' she replies.

'Exactly-and it's certainly not something I associate with Mike and all his… entanglements. I think… I think he's in love with her, and when it ended, he snapped.'

She shakes her head slightly, completely appalled at how she missed this. 'I can't believe it. I can't believe I missed it.'

He shrugs. 'They were careful. Come on, you know Liz-well, actually, that's the point. She's discreet. No one really knows her. She doesn't share. And yeah, Mike's different, and besides-I was with him day in, day out, for years. It's different when you're partners with someone, y'know.'

'Yeah, I know,' she agrees. 'I can't believe I never knew…'

'Yeah,' he says quietly. She rests a hand on his arm and they fall silent again.

She almost doesn't recognize him when he walks down the hallway. She and Lennie stand up in unison when he stops in front of her.

'Any news?' he asks, looking at her.

'Not yet. She's still in surgery.'

Jack collapses in the chair next to her.

'Detective,' he says, leaning forward to look at Lennie. 'You okay?'

'I am, Counselor,' he replies. 'I'm so sorry.'

Jack runs a hand through his hair, ruffling it more than it is already. 'My fault. Shouldn't've left.'

Lennie shakes his head sadly. 'It's not your fault.'

She stands up, feeling like she's intruding. 'I'm going to see if the doctor has an update.'

Both of them look up at her, recalling her presence, and she gives them what she hopes is a comforting smile before she finds the nurse's station.

'Can you give me an update on Claire Kincaid, please?' she asks the nurse.

'She's still in surgery,' she replies, checking her charts.

'How much longer do you think it'll be?'

'Another hour or so.'

'Thanks,' she replies, turning away for a moment before turning back. 'Um, have her parents been notified?'

'Let me check,' she says, flipping through a clipboard. 'Yes, they were called a few hours ago. If they're not in the waiting room they might be in the cafeteria.'

'Thanks,' she says again, and turns away, feeling as though her entire life has now been confined to these hallways.

The doctor comes to see them three hours later. By this point, Jack has found her mother and stepfather and all of them sit in silence, in chairs they've pulled together to make some sort of circle. Even Liz doesn't know what to say, simply sits there quietly, clutching a cup of coffee, darting glances at Mike. Every time she catches his eye she looks away again, flushing a deep red… but she can't stop.

Lennie's right. There was something there.

Just when she thinks she might scream, a doctor walks down the hall towards them.

'I'm so sorry,' he says, and Claire's mother begins to cry.

 _What I saw today will stay with me for the rest of my life…_ Claire's words echo in her head, and she bites her lip to prevent herself from bursting into tears.


End file.
